Monthly Archives: January 2014

This video really creates something that is interesting in my mind and something I struggle with all the time: what is beauty when you are dealing with a person? What defines what is beautiful and what isn’t? Being the person who I am, I struggle to find the patterns in who I find physically attractive, those who I don’t, those that others find attractive, and those that they don’t. I can see what could be beauty to someone else in almost everyone, but at the same time, only a very few get the double take and who I consistently find attractive throughout my life. Is it like this for you? Or, does it even matter? Are we programmed through genetics to find only certain people attractive? Are there certain traits that are always attractive? Is it a moving target on a continuum? I can’t answer this for others, only they can answer this for themselves.

With this in mind, has social media changed how we look at beauty? I have to say that we are changing and finding a broader attractive and beauty in the world. This stems from there have been more images produced in the last year than have been produced in the remaining years of history. We see a larger variety of people, clothing, presentation of what people look like. Many models who I know shoot these selfies constantly. Some aren’t supermodel lookers, but they are beautiful in their own right and anyone around them would probably find them very attractive.

But what is causing the shift? Is it that we get a glimpse of who that person is and actually have to communicate in a somewhat anonymous format? I will say that social media has changed how we look at beauty in the world today. In the process, we are finding more people who are beautiful than ever before.

I have to ask a question: If someone doesn’t realize they are discriminating against someone, are they discriminating? The courts have said that there is no excuse for protected “classes” of people and the EEOC enforces this. They protect race, colour, class, sex, genetic information, and reprisal. They are supposed to protect those who are disabled, but this is difficult for them to do – what is disabled? It isn’t clear cut what is and isn’t. This is a ‘not so protected’ class. There are other reasons, too.

People in not so protected classes get discriminated against all the time, every day. Why? They are different for what every reason a person can find in their mind. Often, they are harassed, too. You can have a text book case where someone is being discriminated against, including manipulation of records, harassment (documented), and intentional malice. It doesn’t matter.

What can be done? Absolutely nothing. In some cases, people do react. Layla’s Law is being petitioned to create awareness of what discrimination is and some of the forms it takes. This isn’t to be confused with the guide dog awareness and protection law created. This is a case where a young child was discriminated against for clumsiness and wouldn’t recognize that someone was disabled. In this situation, there was ignorance and a lack of understanding. I also applaud that both parties are doing something to improve what happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

In real, everyday life, this doesn’t happen. People live with the problems and go through life constantly fighting to just stay on a level playing field. Get in a group that thinks they are above everyone else, and anyone who is different is not tolerated. I don’t think laws will help. We have laws in place. Even the enforcers don’t want to enforce them. This begs the following question: